Tuesday, 28 April 2015

Sometimes
I come across a tango video that really lifts me up, and this is one
of them, uploaded very recently, although the milonga was in 2012.
Many thanks for it, it's a real joy.

(I still can't embed videos: the embed code gets printed in the post, with no video in sight. It's a pain!)

&
I notice how much 'dip and lift' energises this dance! It's one of
the clearest examples of what a good friend and teacher kept saying
to me: Con el cuerpo! Con el cuerpo! [Dance] with the body! Meaning,
not just with the feet. It's decisive and tender, physical and very
gentle.

It's
uploaded by Isabella Szymonowicz,
who has a wonderful tango blog which I'd never noticed before. At a
casual glance I read her posting onJuan
Carlos Pontoriero (with
whom she's dancing in the video), some clear and simple instructions
on how to write a
tango, and a really
valuable link to a US site from which
a pair of high quality suede stick-on soles, backed with an
industrial-strength adhesive,
can be purchased for about £16. & they ship
internationally. Almost
too good to be true. Other interesting possibilities for your shoes there.

& other interesting posts on Isabella's blog. Oh yes, and an excellent interview with Alicia Pons.

Friday, 24 April 2015

I'm
enjoying the soft, gentle, almost hesitant embrace of another London
partner... and suddenly feel something is missing. I experience a
wave of nostalgia for the portena embrace. I don't remember ever
dancing with a portena whose embrace I could describe as soft and
gentle, certainly never hesitant. Not a single one. I could describe
the portena embrace as direct, strong, emphatic, even
confrontational, but not soft or compliant. A portena embrace seemed
more like a challenge: 'You want to dance with me, so make me dance!'
Warm and direct, nothing uncomfortable, nothing apologetic. You might
not notice this when you're watching, but I think it's something
you're likely to feel if you dance there.

I
get the impression there's a whole industry built up around
'decoraciones', even though they aren't much use in improvised social
dancing. I never noticed this industry in Buenos Aires, where
teaching seemed to emphasise the woman standing up to the man, so to
speak, an emphasis on a firm, positive embrace. No compliant partners
who seem all too eager to follow there, and I often felt I had to
work to get a good dance, I had to put energy into a clear and
positive lead. There's an element of resistance, and I can feel
nostalgic for that toughness, the sense that an equal energy meets my
energy. We meet on equal terms, and I'm challenged to prove myself.
So even if the resulting dance doesn't go far (there's probably not a
lot of space to move in) it feels full of energy. A very positive
lead and follow is essential if you want to move together in a small
space, and when you get it, the dance doesn't feel like a 'lead and
follow' situation, just two people moving as one. That's the magic of
it!

Of
course, women can be shy about close embrace with partners they don't
know – and so can men! In a Buenos Aires milonga the only
opportunity a man and woman have of being together is on the actual
dance floor, which encourages them to be more direct, more open, when
they dance since the social situation is limited off the floor.
Adapting to the different height of partners isn't always easy. But I
think the real problem is a kind of teaching that just teaches
patterns of footwork, ignoring a good walk and a good embrace, the
art of putting emphasis and energy into each step, which are a
priority in social tango classes in Buenos Aires.